Do Business Cards Need A Back? & How To Know If You Need One

What is the second thing people do after they look at your business card? They look at the back of your business card. So, since so many people do this, do business cards need a back? & How To Know If You Need One

As a general rule, most business cards need a back in order to provide helpful information to the prospect. Business cards are an excellent tool to create a successful first impression, and having a design in the back of your business card will help make that first impression better.

People definitely look at the back of business cards, but a question on my mind and probably yours would be: Why do they look at the back? What are they looking for?

Do Business Cards Need A Back?

So now we know most people are very likely to look at both sides of a business card, meaning that we have two chances of getting their attention. Sometimes more doesn’t mean better, but this isn’t the case for most business card designs. Not having a design in the back of your business could harm your business or professional image if you don’t do it right. So does that mean business cards don’t need a back in some cases? Let’s analyze some scenarios.

1The only side your business card has looks crowded.
If you don’t have a design for the back of your business card, any person could think you didn’t add it because you didn’t have an idea of what to add there. Especially if you added so much information that it made sense you included more information at the back of your business card. 

When to have a single-sided business card?: If the information you want to add to your business card design isn’t that much, putting all of it on one side and leaving the other one blank is a good idea. However, if you think there’s any unused potential you could use, don’t hesitate to make your business card double-sided. 

2 You want to convey a minimalist image.
Many of our customers have minimalist designs, and we have found that these designs work very well when they’re single-sided. If this is the type of design you want for your business card, it’s important to remember that less is more when you design anything in a minimalist style. 

When to have a single-sided, minimalist business card?: We recommend using a single-sided business card when the information you want to share in it is minor—for example, name, email, and phone number. This type of business card design is potent because it makes people focus their attention on your persona. (Note that a business card like that wouldn’t inform of your services, company, etc.; meaning that it would be your job to make sure people know what you do before handling your business card)

3 You want to print plastic or any translucid business cards:
If you print any translucid business card, it’s important to note that anything you print on one side will be visible on the other side. Although we couldn’t use the back of our business card in many cases, there are many creative ways to have a double-sided, translucid business card I’ll explain below.

When to have double-sided translucid business cards?: If you want your translucid business card to have a back, you need to be aware of how the card would look when turned. For example, if you place your contact information on the left side of your business card front design and then switch it, you will see all your business card info backward on the right side. So, if you wanted to add something else, like your company’s logo, you could add it on the left side of your business card back design, and then you would see it on both sides of your business card. 

So, as you can see, there are many ways you can create a successful, creative, and professional business card design regardless of how many sides it has. 

If you still have any other questions related to this, you can continue reading this blog or contact us via email at info@japanprint.com or call us at 212-406-2905! Our NYC business card experts will be glad to assist you in getting your business card order ready. 

What should you put on the back of a business card?

When it comes to adding information to your business cards, there are many opinions. For example, many people think the most important thing is to add as many services as possible. In contrast, other people think their contact information and company name are more important. And when you look at the two perspectives, both of them make a lot of sense. So which one is right?

As a general rule, the most important information you should put on a business card is your name, phone number, email, and website. This information is considered essential in almost any business card, as the primary purpose of a business card is to provide your contact information. 

However, where does information like services, discounts, and any other things you’d like to add to your business cards go? Below we’ll explain this more in detail. 

If you want your business card to have both services and contact information, this is when having a double-sided business card works wonders. On one side, you could focus on adding your contact information and critical information, and on the other side, you can add your services. However, be careful when doing this! Your business card isn’t a book, so you don’t want your business card to look too crowded. Instead, focus on only adding essential services and contact information. 

TIP:

If your business card looks crowded and you want to delete information, delete anything but your contact information. Also, if you want to add information about discounts to your business card, we would recommend using different tools like flyers or brochures, which work better for these purposes.

Still not sure about what to add? Don’t worry! 

We know that it can be confusing and even complicated to know what to put on the back of your business card; but don’t worry, here’s a link of many of our business card templates that could give you an idea of what to add to your business cards. Also, in our gallery, we have tons of examples you can see to get ideas or inspiration. 

TIP:

In many cases, If you aren’t using the back of your business card to provide helpful information, you are not making the most out of your marketing efforts. The back of your business card is really powerful if used correctly.

Finally, we wanted to add a piece of information we think it’s important when deciding on whether to print single-sided or double-sided business cards.

Are two sided business cards more expensive?

The short for this is, yes, double-sided business cards are more expensive than single-sided business cards. However, their price difference is as high as many people think. In fact, when using popular printing techniques, their price difference is very little. For example, if there aren’t any special features, double-sided business cards cost almost the same as single-sided business cards when digitally printed. 

However, if your business cards do have special features, that’s a different story. For instance, an expensive special feature such as letterpress could be significantly more costly if you want it to be on both sides of your business card. Others like Spot UV or Foil are more expensive, but the added cost of printing them is only about 15-25% more compared to the original price. 

And that would be all for this article. We hope your question about business cards needing a back is answered now! If you have any questions or want to print business cards with us, you can email us at info@japanprint.com or call us at 212-406-2905, and one of our representatives will assist you. 

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Japan Printing & Graphics, Inc.